South Florida rallies for 61-57 win over Bradley

PEORIA — A major theme during Bradley's final 0-6 record in December — an inability to close games — reared its head again before a paid crowd of 6,221 Saturday night at Carver Arena.

A five-point lead with 5 minutes left turned into a 61-57 loss to South Florida, sending BU (5-8) to its sixth consecutive defeat and eighth in its last nine games. In four of those losses this month, Bradley was leading, tied or trailing by a basket in the final few minutes.

"Our effort tonight was great," said BU coach Geno Ford. "The emotional level of our team was great, especially considering what we've fought through the last few weeks. Execution is what got us beat. We didn't make plays those last five minutes that you make when you win.

"At crunch time, we didn't step up. We withered."

Tyshon Pickett drove to the basket and banked in a shot with seven minutes left, giving the Braves a 54-49 lead. It stayed that way until 4:35 when Chris Perry's put-back drew the visitors within three.

Pickett scored the last Bradley field goal at 3:33 on another driving bank shot, staking the Braves to a 56-53 advantage. USF scored on its next two possessions to forge its first lead since early in the second half before Pickett's free throw at 1:42 tied it at 57.

At 1:15, Corey Allen's two free throws gave the Bulls a 59-57 edge, setting up Bradley's fatal last possessions.

The Braves turned over both of them — one a steal by Zach LeDay on an inbounds pass from Auston Barnes to Walt Lemon and the other a Lemon charge into LeDay, whose ensuing two free throws with 10 seconds left sealed it. Lemon missed a 3-pointer on Bradley's final offensive play.

Lemon, who led BU with 17 points, seven assists and four steals, also committed five turnovers and didn't score in the final 9:35.

"I take that out on me," Lemon said of the Braves' poor finish. "As the leader of the team, I'm the one that needs to step up and finish those plays and make better decisions."

Much credit goes to the tenacity of the Bulls, though, who were playing without point guard Anthony Collins, who is nursing a sore knee.

"A lot of things went well for us in those last five minutes," said USF coach Stan Heath. "I feel like the guys are comfortable in those (close) situations. Every one of our last eight games has been (decided by) five points or less."

A close contest wasn't what the Bulls had in mind early, cruising to a 20-8 bulge in the first nine minutes.

Bradley was starting a makeshift lineup with 7-footer Nate Wells and freshman Jordan Swopshire drawing their first college starts. Usual regulars Pickett and Grier sat after missing Thursday's practice because their flights back from Christmas break were delayed.

Page 2 of 2 - "Even though we were down, we played really hard and played the right way," Ford said. "Nate gave us some solid minutes."

But change was needed and the Braves shifted to a 2-3 zone that yielded immediate benefits. Bradley outscored the visitors 22-8 the rest of the half to carry a 30-28 lead into the locker room.

"Their zone really bothered us and they were in a good offensive rhythm," Heath said. "Bradley gave us a lot of problems."

The second half was a back-and-forth battle as the lead changed hands eight times before USF grabbed it for good at 1:15.

"We have to find a way to make the right play and finish it," Ford said. "We made untimely mistakes. We're good enough to win that game and we didn't win it. That's why it was frustrating. We need to have a little more courage when it's winning time.

"We can't have that 'Here we go again feeling.' It almost seemed like it went that way when the lead went from five to tied up. We weren't playing with the same bounce as we did earlier."

The Braves open Missouri Valley Conference play Wednesday night at Northern Iowa, where they've lost six in a row.

"We've got to stay at it," Ford said. "There were a lot of positives today."

Braves report card

Frontcourt: C-

At times, South Florida’s daunting size overwhelmed the Braves. But the home team showed good fight inside and got good games from Tyshon Pickett (16 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block) and surprise starter Nate Wells (4 rebounds and a big block in 12 minutes).

Backcourt: D

Walt Lemon was better for the most part (17 points, 7 assists, 4 steals), but three ill-advised driving shots down the stretch helped seal Bradley’s fate. Ka’Darryl Bell was solid (8 points, 2 steals), but Omari Grier had a poor night.

Bench: C

Pickett did his work in a reserve role. Xzavier Taylor showed some grit inside in his 16 minutes. Chris Blake played just 8 minutes mainly because of matchup issues with the huge Bulls.

Overall: D+

Much improved wasn’t good enough for the Braves, who skidded to their sixth loss in a row and ended the nonconference season 5-8 after a 4-0 start. Another bad finish to a winnable home game is what will be remembered from this night more than the strides made from last week.

Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or at dreynolds@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @davereynolds2.